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Portrait of Alexander Macleay

Public servant

Scientist

Naturalist

Member

New South Wales Legislative Council

Upper house of the New South Wales Parliament, which started as an appointed council of advisers to the Governor and has gradually become more diverse and democratic. Since the introduction of responsible government and the Legislative Assembly, the Council has served as a house of review.

President

Australian Club

Elizabeth Bay Estate

Estate of 54 acres granted to Alexander Macleay in 1826. The estate and garden were to become world recognised before financial difficulties resulted in his son gaining control and its subsequent subdivision.

Brownlow Hill

Elizabeth Bay House

Greek Revival villa considered the finest in the colony. It is constructed of Marulan sandstone and Australian cedar and blackbutt and is perfectly aligned to the position of the sunrise at the winter solstice so that the rising sun bisects the house from front to rear doors. Its garden was once known internationally for its collection of rare species though after subdivision only the grotto remains.

Scots

Scots have been in Sydney from earliest European contact, with Forby Sutherland, a young Scottish crew member on the Endeavour, buried at Sutherland in 1770. Scots have played important roles in all facets of Sydney's history. While the Scots can seem to be 'invisible immigrants', without a clearly distinctive culture, Scottish professions, industry, religion and education have been influential in Sydney's development since the arrival of the First Fleet.

Darlinghurst

Used by its traditional owners, the Gadigal people, well into the 1840s, Darlinghurst was a quarry and windmill site before it became popular for the fine villas of the colony's well-to-do, in the 1830s. Subsequent booms and busts raised and lowered the suburb's fortunes, creating the mix of poor and posh, criminal and respectable that have made Darlinghurst one of Sydney's most interesting localities.

Greeks

Sydney's Hellenic community is one of the city's largest and most influential, with a long and complex history. Greek-speaking people came from many parts of the Mediterranean, as well as Hellas itself, and have maintained their diverse cultural traditions at the same time as becoming part of Sydney's institutions and cultural and business life.

Kings Cross

Kings Cross exists in Sydney's imagination as much as it does in any physical form, and pinning down its geographical boundaries is difficult. It has loomed large in Sydney's culture since the first houses were built nearby in the 1830s, and continues to attract tourists and Sydneysiders alike.